“That went on way too long, we turned down bid number four and five when I was out in Portugal and I went back to Derby and said ‘Look, the player is in bits, this is what’s going on and this is where I am. I will be really transparent and honest about it instead of keep turning down bids, we’ve told you before this is our stance, what do you want to do?’

“Either we came to a deal or we would move on and I would have to tell the player – which I had already said to him there’s a chance it isn’t going to happen – so we found a compromise, we did a deal which was right for the football club, the player and we moved on.”

“If you think buying a player for £400,000 last year over 40 months – where we’ve only paid £100,000 on that in a transfer fee – and selling a player for ‘X’ amount plus add-ons was cheap, then you don’t know me,” MacAnthony said.

“There was no way on Earth I would have sold our leading goalscorer, and probably our best player, for the figures quoted.”

And with Derby signing one of Peterborough’s prized assets, how does MacAnthony think they will fare in the Championship this season?

“I will be a Derby fan this season,” he said. “I hope he (Marriott) does well.

“I hope they win promotion and, to be fair, they were good to deal with.”